Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
NameEllen Smith 
, GGGG Grandmother
, GGGG GrandmotherSpouses
Notes for Ellen Smith
The name of Zachariah’s wife is family tradition.
Notes for Zacariah (Spouse 1)
My information pertaining to Zacariah Jones and his family was originally obtained from a book entitled "Jones, Zacariah and Descendants, 1735-1971," compiled and published privately by Leoneade A. Ramsey and Olive J. Smith in 1971.370 I obtained a copy of the book from Mrs. Smith in 1982. At that time she was 88 years old and lived 3350 NE 70th Street, Ocala, Florida 32670.
Zacariah Jones is said by Mrs. Smith to have been a baptist preacher, who emigrated to the Colonies from Wales in about 1760, settling in what is now North Carolina. His wife was said to be Ellen Smith. Shortly after their arrival in the Carolinas, the Jones' homestead was destroyed by Indians, so the family migrated north to Delaware, where their first son, Ebenezer, was born January 21, 1763. Zacariah married second Sadie Vance and had three other sons, Seth, Jesse, and Robert.
Another source is Eileen Phipps:384
“Ebenezer's father, Zacariah Jones, was born around 1735 in Wales. He is said to have been a Baptist preacher. He and his wife, whose name is said to have been Ellen Smith, emigrated to the colonies from Wales around 1760. They settled in what is now North Carolina, but soon after their arrival, their homestead was destroyed by Indians. They then migrated north to Delaware, where their first son, Ebenezer, was born January 21, 1763. The only further information available about Ebenezer is that he and his second wife, Sadie Vance, had three sons: Seth, Jesse, and Robert.”
However, these views are based on family traditions that have been changed in the telling over the generations. Gilbert X. Drendel, in his important research book “Footprints in the Frontier,”369 has brought considerable clarity to the subject. Zachariah was probably not a Baptist prearher, or even a Baptist. This fable seems to have arisen because some researcher in the last 50 years apparently found another Zachariah Jones, of Pencader Hundred, who was the son of a very well documented Baptist preacher. In his Delaware research, Gib Drendel examined the Pencader Hundred Zachariah Jones carefully and conclusively ruled him out as the father of Ebenezer Jones.
Following is quoted from Gilbert X. Drendel’s book, the most definitive research on Zachariah Jones and his son Ebenezer Jones:369
“Zachariah Jones executed a will dated September 25, 1789. His estate was opened on October 22, 1789. He left a bed and furniture to his granddaughter Bersheba Jones and “to my grandson Robert my plantation where I now live with all my lands thereunto belonging . . . reserving to my daughter Unity Jones the use of one-half of my aforesaid plantation and land . . . during her natural life.
“A Guardianship estate was opened for Robert during the May court term in 1790. He was described as over the age of fourteen and the son of Vincent Jones. Vincent Jones was taxed in Mispillion Hundred in 1782, but he was not taxed or listed in the 1790 census. We presume he was dead by that time. Robert’s age between 14 and 18 ties into the age of Robert Jones discussed in Post Script C of the book, who we claimed to be Ebenezer’s half brother.
“Robert Jones, “yeoman” and his wife Ann (or Nancy) and Unity Jones deeded to Isaac Jones, “gentleman”, all interest in the Zachariah Jones property known as Jones Venture. The deed was dated October 11, 1794. Robert and Isaac were referred to as grandchildren of Zachariah, which makes them brothers or cousins. The land was described as “in the Forest of Mispillion Hundred . . . and on the west side of the main marsh of Marshyhope”. Robert, Nancy and Unity did not sign the deed. They granted a power of attorney to George W. Call and Stephen Lewis esq. (an attorney) to sign for them. Such a power of attorney was used when the grantor was too ill to sign or not available, as not living in the area.
“Twenty-nine days later, Robert Jones, “late of Kent County, Delaware” and described as a “planter” (farmer) bought 117 acres of land in Stokes County, North Carolina on November 10, 1794. This land was close to Ebenezer’s first farm and is the Robert Jones described in Post Script C, which I claimed to be Ebenezer’s half-brother. One may conclude Robert used the proceeds from his sale to Isaac to buy the Stokes County property.”
Thus, Zachariah had a daughter named Unity Jones, a son named Vincent Jones (probably the father of Zachariah’s gradson Robert Jones) and grandchildren named Bersheba Jones and Isaac Jones. It is not known which of Zachariah’s sons were the fathers of Bersheba and Isaac.
Zacariah Jones is said by Mrs. Smith to have been a baptist preacher, who emigrated to the Colonies from Wales in about 1760, settling in what is now North Carolina. His wife was said to be Ellen Smith. Shortly after their arrival in the Carolinas, the Jones' homestead was destroyed by Indians, so the family migrated north to Delaware, where their first son, Ebenezer, was born January 21, 1763. Zacariah married second Sadie Vance and had three other sons, Seth, Jesse, and Robert.
Another source is Eileen Phipps:384
“Ebenezer's father, Zacariah Jones, was born around 1735 in Wales. He is said to have been a Baptist preacher. He and his wife, whose name is said to have been Ellen Smith, emigrated to the colonies from Wales around 1760. They settled in what is now North Carolina, but soon after their arrival, their homestead was destroyed by Indians. They then migrated north to Delaware, where their first son, Ebenezer, was born January 21, 1763. The only further information available about Ebenezer is that he and his second wife, Sadie Vance, had three sons: Seth, Jesse, and Robert.”
However, these views are based on family traditions that have been changed in the telling over the generations. Gilbert X. Drendel, in his important research book “Footprints in the Frontier,”369 has brought considerable clarity to the subject. Zachariah was probably not a Baptist prearher, or even a Baptist. This fable seems to have arisen because some researcher in the last 50 years apparently found another Zachariah Jones, of Pencader Hundred, who was the son of a very well documented Baptist preacher. In his Delaware research, Gib Drendel examined the Pencader Hundred Zachariah Jones carefully and conclusively ruled him out as the father of Ebenezer Jones.
Following is quoted from Gilbert X. Drendel’s book, the most definitive research on Zachariah Jones and his son Ebenezer Jones:369
“Zachariah Jones executed a will dated September 25, 1789. His estate was opened on October 22, 1789. He left a bed and furniture to his granddaughter Bersheba Jones and “to my grandson Robert my plantation where I now live with all my lands thereunto belonging . . . reserving to my daughter Unity Jones the use of one-half of my aforesaid plantation and land . . . during her natural life.
“A Guardianship estate was opened for Robert during the May court term in 1790. He was described as over the age of fourteen and the son of Vincent Jones. Vincent Jones was taxed in Mispillion Hundred in 1782, but he was not taxed or listed in the 1790 census. We presume he was dead by that time. Robert’s age between 14 and 18 ties into the age of Robert Jones discussed in Post Script C of the book, who we claimed to be Ebenezer’s half brother.
“Robert Jones, “yeoman” and his wife Ann (or Nancy) and Unity Jones deeded to Isaac Jones, “gentleman”, all interest in the Zachariah Jones property known as Jones Venture. The deed was dated October 11, 1794. Robert and Isaac were referred to as grandchildren of Zachariah, which makes them brothers or cousins. The land was described as “in the Forest of Mispillion Hundred . . . and on the west side of the main marsh of Marshyhope”. Robert, Nancy and Unity did not sign the deed. They granted a power of attorney to George W. Call and Stephen Lewis esq. (an attorney) to sign for them. Such a power of attorney was used when the grantor was too ill to sign or not available, as not living in the area.
“Twenty-nine days later, Robert Jones, “late of Kent County, Delaware” and described as a “planter” (farmer) bought 117 acres of land in Stokes County, North Carolina on November 10, 1794. This land was close to Ebenezer’s first farm and is the Robert Jones described in Post Script C, which I claimed to be Ebenezer’s half-brother. One may conclude Robert used the proceeds from his sale to Isaac to buy the Stokes County property.”
Thus, Zachariah had a daughter named Unity Jones, a son named Vincent Jones (probably the father of Zachariah’s gradson Robert Jones) and grandchildren named Bersheba Jones and Isaac Jones. It is not known which of Zachariah’s sons were the fathers of Bersheba and Isaac.
Notes for Zacariah & Ellen (Family)
Seth, Jesse, and Robert Jones from information provided by Calista Parker Cox.385